Alan Lowenthal: “I would just like to respond to some of the attacks from the other side that are supporting the STREAM Act that the…”

“I would just like to respond to some of the attacks from the other side that are supporting the STREAM Act that the administration's stream protection rule is really an attempt to destroy jobs, it is really part of, as one of my colleagues has said, the war on coal. But nothing could be further from the truth. What we are talking about are commonsense protections for communities. Contrary to the Republican chorus that there is a war on coal, let me read to you, Members, that the Energy Information Administration estimates that U.S. coal production for 2014 was up 14 million short tons from 2013, and that this production growth is going to continue through 2030. While coal exports are predicted to drop in the short term, they are going to reach historic high grounds around 2030. We are not talking about destroying these communities. We are talking about allowing these communities to thrive, to be healthy, to protect the valleys, to protect the streams, to protect the ecology, to protect the public health, and to allow us to have mountaintop mining, but safe and healthy mountaintop mining. That is what we are talking about. I reserve the balance of my time.”